Ticks Are GROSS!!!

4shot

4shot

Well-known member
I’m not scared of much. Thought Covid was a joke, hardly ever get sick. If there is one thing that scares the crap out of me is Lyme disease and ticks. If one lands on me or attaches I immediately think I’m a goner. Today the dog and I were out, he was running in tall grass I was walking in a mowed section and I look down and see four ticks on my pants. I wasn’t in trees or even grass that was 3 inches tall. Later I was in a field looking for some coveys I’m familiar with, grass was knee high, I bet there was over 20 ticks on my pants. You can bet I have the eewhee jeebezz all night. Every time I feel a tickle I’m running to the bathroom ripping my shirt off doing a tick inspection. Dog has Frontline, do they make that stuff for humans? (JK). Just seems like a lotta ticks, is this common? Is there more of them out this year? Any good tips other than bug spray and not going out? I don’t even wanna think about mushroom hunting. Oh well, just sittin in the garage burning ticks found on the dog. New hobby!!!🤨
 
Had about 10 on me one time. Foumd 3 on the drive home. Put them into a pop can. Stripped my clothes off to my boxers and went inside inspected my boxers, brushed my hair and took a shower. Found ticks on my pants outside after.
 
Often get them while nestled in brush turkey hunting.
 
I have only had a few so far, if you don't mind COVID, relax on Lyme disease. I am not sure I know anyone that has got sick or died due to Lyme disease, maybe we just don't have Lyme in our area. As many as there are, I have decided they are just good for pheasant chick food....eat-up little fellas!
 
A doctor told me that the larger ticks we have in this area (KS for me) are not the type that carry Lyme
 
I’ve got a pair of tan chaps I’ve applied permethrin too. I’m not sure it works cause I’ll pick dozens off that are climbing up the chaps. But they sure are easy to see on the chaps. Wet grass in the spring and there are going to be ticks. My dogs are on nexgard but only works after the tick bites them. I think ticks will hitch a ride home on them without ever biting
 
I live in the country, surrounded by grass and shrubs. I turkey hunt and pond fish. Lots of tics; We also now have what we call turkey tics. down south they call them red bugs, I think. I've been told they are the larva of the lone star tic. They are so small you can barely see them. Usually, they are in large numbers. I once lost count around 170, from my ankle to my groin. I was scraping them off with a pocketknife! And have heard a lot worse than that. Even with my diy tic spray I probably get bit a dozen or so times a year. I know two people who have had Lymes. One was pretty much crippled. obviously, I don't want it but I'm not letting it stop me. My turkey season got cut short this year because I'm getting a new hip in a couple days. The nurse called me and said to make sure I don't have any insect bites, or they won't do the surgery. I already had two on that leg! Maybe they won't see them! My tic stuff is 1 oz 10% permethrin/20 oz water. don't take my word for that do your own research and don't spray it on your skin. I figure at 66 I've got worse ailments to worry about than Lymes or self-poisoning so last time I hit the turkey tic jackpot, I soaked a paper towel with my tic dope and wiped them off my groin! If it kills my pecker, oh well I didn't use it much anyways...
 
Male ticks do not feed on your dog, just hanging around for breeding. So just pick them off and destroy. Chewables for the dog and permethrin for us is the best. Try to remove before they attach, be diligent in a self exam.
 
birddude said:
I live in the country, surrounded by grass and shrubs. I turkey hunt and pond fish. Lots of tics; We also now have what we call turkey tics. down south they call them red bugs, I think. I've been told they are the larva of the lone star tic. They are so small you can barely see them. Usually, they are in large numbers. I once lost count around 170, from my ankle to my groin. I was scraping them off with a pocketknife! And have heard a lot worse than that. Even with my diy tic spray I probably get bit a dozen or so times a year. I know two people who have had Lymes. One was pretty much crippled. obviously, I don't want it but I'm not letting it stop me. My turkey season got cut short this year because I'm getting a new hip in a couple days. The nurse called me and said to make sure I don't have any insect bites, or they won't do the surgery. I already had two on that leg! Maybe they won't see them! My tic stuff is 1 oz 10% permethrin/20 oz water. don't take my word for that do your own research and don't spray it on your skin. I figure at 66 I've got worse ailments to worry about than Lymes or self-poisoning so last time I hit the turkey tic jackpot, I soaked a paper towel with my tic dope and wiped them off my groin! If it kills my pecker, oh well I didn't use it much anyways...
Click to expand...

"Red bugs" sounds like what we call chiggers.
 
BritChaser said:
"Red bugs" sounds like what we call chiggers.
Click to expand...
Seed ticks. My wife took one of our dogs out one time and really got into them. Hundreds maybe thousands of them. She ended up shaving them off . Crawled off the dog onto a white comforter. Looked like it was moving. This was 25 years ago and she hasn’t done it again since.
 
I know of people who have caught Lyme Disease from ticks. If it goes untreated, it can lead to long term issues. If you suspect you were bit by a tick and its showing classic symptoms of Lyme Disease, go see a doctor for treatment. If the doctor won't diagnose it as such, go see another one.
 
gimruis said:
I know of people who have caught Lyme Disease from ticks. If it goes untreated, it can lead to long term issues. If you suspect you were bit by a tick and its showing classic symptoms of Lyme Disease, go see a doctor for treatment. If the doctor won't diagnose it as such, go see another one.
Click to expand...
oh yeah, now we have Powassan virus!!
 
birddude said:
Its gonna take a powerful magnifying glass to tell the diff, between male and female:)
Click to expand...
Not really, male ticks do not attach, so you might always see some live tick nymphs or adults crawling around. Since it takes attachment in order to contact the meds we use, males are unaffected and are a non issue. Blood sucking females are the problem. Any time the temperature is 34F or higher, ticks can be active.
 
I'll bet McFarmer has some stories, but I was fencing one spring and got into a nest of them. I stopped counting after 100. Sat outside in my underwear and tossed them for the neighbor's chickens and cats. Sounds like some redneck stuff, but it only happened the one time in a very, very wet spring of 1997. I'd bet that the wood ticks are a pretty common food source for chicks.

I agree, phantom ticks are almost worse than the real thing, thinking a guy has them crawling all over.
 
My huntingt buddy's boy had a deer tic on him and developed Lyme disease. He is not an "outdoors" type of kid, not sure if it rode home with his father or how he picked it up. His mother saw the signs where the tic was and the doctor, I think, just prescribed an antibiotic and it wasn't a big deal...the deer tics are just tiny, the size of the head of the pin, if I understand right and they are the ones to be concerned about...have never seen one before and I have spent a several decades being outdoors plenty in NW Iowa. I think we have wood tics here.

On the phantom tics, my wife is a elementary school teacher, when she gets a kid or 2 in her class with head lice, she goes through that!
 
Sure feels like they are worse this year. Dogs have had tons even with medicine. I picked several off yesterday, the worst I woke up at 11:30 last night and found one on a place that rhymes with tick. That was fun to pull off half awake with tweezers....
 
Lyme disease is no joke, it causes havoc with your neurological system. The large problems come if it is contracted and then left untreated, as it can fly under the radar for a long time. Permethrin is your best friend. It says that it's an insect repellent, but that's not true at all. It is an insecticide and kills ticks dead. You treat your clothes a day ahead of time and then they are good for a few weeks. Works like a charm and I won't go turkey hunting or mushroom picking without treated clothes.
 
Yesterday, we ran both our Vizslas in the country. One thing about Vizslas is the coat makes ticks very easy to see. My 5 year old, Ellie sticks pretty close the to the gravel road and stays on it 90% of the time. Willow is 2 and covers about every inch of a 200 yard swath on both sides of the road terrorizing every bird in her path. Yesterday, Willow had zero ticks on her and Ellie had about a dozen. She must have paused for one of her 3-4 dumps on a tick nest. Both have had their first tick treatment which is NextGuard. It works great and they die fairly quickly after attaching.
 
A tick got under my shirt this weekend and bit me 6 times while sleeping. Never found its sweet spot and drilled in but I got 6 welts to show for it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top